What do you think about OOC utilities?

The recent discussion about Teamspeak (a voice chatting utility) and how it could positively/negatively affect IC interaction in Achaea if widely used got me thinking about other OOC utilities used by other MMOs. Teamspeak would allow groups to clearly and quickly communicate in a combat scenario where text presents challenges (or has to be automated). Jabber is another utility - it's a chat interface that would allow users to receive "pings" if, say, your city/org was being raided and you were on your computer but not logged into Achaea.
Do you support OOC tools being utilized to streamline city defense, raiding, group hunting, etc?

Comments

I've used Teamspeak in the past on Guild Wars and had a LOT of fun with it. I could see it making something like hunting a lot less monotonous, for example. As long as it was treated similarly to OOC Clans or the forums, where you should be making a point to not cross IC/OOC barriers, etc., I have no issue with it (and would likely partake).

However, using it for 'utility', where you've got a raiding group or a defense group or where an organisation asks a player to participate - yeah, I'm not a fan of using OOC mechanisms in these situations and would refuse to join. I'm sure someone else has and/or will explain why it's a bad idea better than I can with a toddler crawling on me, heh!

"Gilgamesh, where are you hurrying to? You will never find that [everlasting] life for which you are looking. When the gods created man they allotted to him death, but life they retained in their own keeping. As for you, Gilgamesh, fill your belly with good things; day and night, night and day, dance and be merry, feast and rejoice. Let your clothes be fresh, bathe yourself in water, cherish the little child that holds your hand, and make your wife happy in your embrace; for this too is the lot of man."

If used for group PvP / raids, I don't really care. I've never used any of these programs but it'd be cool to receive a 'ping' when theres a raid, instead of sitting around all day in-game waiting for a raid.

I don't believe it breaks the OOC/IC barrier if the other side suddenly gets some more people. I'm not one of those people thats like "Oh, look at them using Skype! What a bunch of Skypers!". Its no big deal. I've said this in other threads but, I tend to really only play Achaea for the group PvP - if there's no raids or group PvP going on, I'm probably sitting in Eleusis and playing Minecraft or surfing the web, waiting for some group PvP. Would be cool to just be alerted OOCly instead of sitting in-game.

If used for group PvP / raids, I don't really care. I've never used any of these programs but it'd be cool to receive a 'ping' when theres a raid, instead of sitting around all day in-game waiting for a raid.

Right - I think this is the most compelling use of OOC tools (and maybe the most controversial).

It does present a bit of a negative atmosphere in some sense -- you will begin to feel "left out" and behind if your group/city doesn't use it -OR- you don't use it personally due to technology or whatever, it may become a cliquish situation.

Personally I like the idea in almost every other game I play, but I just don't think the implementation would work very well in Achaea, due to the varied nature of the playerbase.

It's odd because iirc party channel was deemed OOC (atleast when Tanris illusioned some party tells to abuse Shallamese autotargeting). But if I started being OOC on party I'd probably get into IC trouble. Dunno.

Afaik the rule is all channels are considered IC (even the Newbie channel) unless there is an explicit agreement among all parties that the (private) conversation is OOC. So things like OOC parties or clans are fine, but only if everyone is aware that it is OOC.

As the most obvious example, a raid party channel with a small group of close friends is fine to be OOC, but if it's a citywide endeavour then it has to be IC (unless for some strange reason your city endorses a public OOC channel for raids, which really shouldn't be happening). This is a bit of a grey area, but it's not that hard to stay IC for the most part - things like reported health/mana values/leg breaks are to be expected and not much you can do about that, but you certainly don't have to encourage the use of abbreviations like 'lol' etc.

I voted that I would use it, but frankly I don't want to so I've shied away from any org or group that does. I have a very distinctive voice (sounds a bit like Minnie Mouse on helium). It's easily identifiable. Speaking is therefore a sure giveaway to who my alts are, and I don't want that. For these reasons (and a myriad of others) I do think it is breaks the barrier of OOC/IC.

Well, if you count the Maybes as Yes. I don't want to do a separate poll, but I'm willing to bet the majority of them are okay with the concept (I don't think anybody enjoys scrambling around to type while trying to read combat spam) but not the greater implications (eventually becomes a barrier-to-entry for group combat).

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TharvisThe Land of Beer and Chocolate!MemberPosts: 3,107@@ - Legendary Achaean

I just use Skype for things that are hard to set up in game and still have a history so I can scroll up to remember what the hell we were talking about. Mainly things like drafts, event ideas, those things. But yeah if those things start getting actively used for combat or to gain an edge in events (egg hunt, Yxxx etc) I can see that becoming a major problem and a very big sense of clique-ism

I definitely see what Tharvis is saying. It'd be alright if like, Ashtan's A-Team used ventrilo to coordinate, since they're already a clique. It wouldn't be cool if like, there was a city-wide ventrilo where not joining it meant you were missing out on what the party is supposed to be doing.

So, yes to cliques using ventrilo, no to having it as a mandatory thing. Of course, the latter would never actually happen, so inb4 pages of arguing against it.

I chat to people OOCly on Skype, usually discuss stuff from the game in it. But we don't take any of it IC (AFAIK). If someone tells me on Skype 'Hey, Hashan is getting raided', then sure I'll jump on. I don't see how it breaks any barriers in that regard.

I guess Teamspeak/Skype chats would make it easier to coordinate but I prefer to keep the IC/OOC barrier since Mhaldor's party channels for raiding are always IC.

Also, having an OOC chat for such things would, firstly - be weird because you'll be mostly talking to a bunch of random strangers you play with in a text game and secondly, I don't want to engender any OOC/IC feelings of familiarity. It's like saying I am the Tyrannus and you are just a CR1 slave, but because you know and talk to me OOCly, you feel like it's going to be easier to cajole me into relaxing the rules with you.

I have done Skype calls for some stuff though. I remember having a random call with a bunch of other people in the game (not just Mhaldorians) and it was during the Iniquitous Gala or something where we were having to RP ballroom dancing, so we were giving each other tips on where to move and all that shiz. It was funny and hilarious altogether.

I love to skype with some Achaeans while we play but it's not just with citymates. It's usually a fairly broad spectrum of people from different factions. And we generally just chat while we play, to keep each other good company. Though, I have, on accident, given away location to someone I was raiding against before and had to go CRAP! DON'T LISTEN TO ME WE ARE NOT DOING THAT ANYMORE BYE! And I've been in raid parties with a few of us being on Skype calls but for the most part, everything was still very clearly communicated in IC party chats to ensure that the entire party was up to speed.

I don't really mind it for many things. It's quite a bit of fun to get on and talk with other people, and I have sometimes done it while raiding. But as was @Blujixapug‌'s post, it's just normally a lot of rabble rabble and laughing. a good way to lighten the tension after a loss.It's easier when people are actually talking to eachother and say "well that sucked." When you're alone you might just rage instead.

That being said, I think it's very important to know what you're doing, when, and why. I typically avoid all kinds of ooc interaction when it comes to achaea, and normally only chat while playing other games. This is because to me, I like being able to look at my comrades and see them as people I am fighting for my life/faith with. While it can be fun to interact with other people on a more ooc level, it does break immersion for me to hear people laughing or swearing completely out of their characters context, and I believe slowly degrades the persona that we try to live out in the game.

I've had this experience before, and it's given me some good friends but our demeanor has changed from "excuse me sir, can I please have (item/gold/hunting partner/sex) and more like "hey let's doo this! kyaaa"

Just a personal opinion on the matter, but I don't really mind if other people do it. As I said, it's fun.

I replied no. I don't want to hear you guys guffawing and snorting like pigs whenever you kill someone or die. (j/k)

In all honesty, my brain does not work well with Teamspeak and co. for many reasons:1. I have a hard time understanding spoken English because of the notorious accents (I'm French, damnit).2. No matter the language, spoken words are classified as ambient noise in my head, and go down the spam folder unless:3. I stop and take the time to carefully listen and comprehend what I'm being told. While doing so, I am unable to read what's going on in game, or even type.4. My brain suggests 4-5 different sentence formulations at the same time, and I need to make a conscious effort to make my mouth decide which one to use. Still very vulnerable while I focus on speaking.

This does not show when I post because none of you get to read the five drafts I furiously type before settling on one :PIt does show when I'm roleplaying live, as in Character to Character with says. Thus I'm very shy from live interactions, all the time, both IC and OOC.

I guess Teamspeak/Skype chats would make it easier to coordinate but I prefer to keep the IC/OOC barrier since Mhaldor's party channels for raiding are always IC.

Also, having an OOC chat for such things would, firstly - be weird because you'll be mostly talking to a bunch of random strangers you play with in a text game and secondly, I don't want to engender any OOC/IC feelings of familiarity. It's like saying I am the Tyrannus and you are just a CR1 slave, but because you know and talk to me OOCly, you feel like it's going to be easier to cajole me into relaxing the rules with you.

I have done Skype calls for some stuff though. I remember having a random call with a bunch of other people in the game (not just Mhaldorians) and it was during the Iniquitous Gala or something where we were having to RP ballroom dancing, so we were giving each other tips on where to move and all that shiz. It was funny and hilarious altogether.

While I don't disagree, we both know there are plenty of "groups" OOC who play the game and participate in Skype chats or other discussion mediums that go a bit beyond the typical OOC clan.

Not sure this is a good idea, but to claim it would be weird is a bit disingenuous.

There are IC combat parties? What? Aren't all combat parties a mixture of hilarious ooc shit about combat, ripping on each other, and telling dirty jokes? @Jhui You've lied to me this whole time?

lol.

You have no idea.

Just the other day someone in Mhaldor (who shall not be named you know who you are) decided to scold me on a raid defense party channel while being raided by you guys for using the words "vs." and "idk" when discussing a combat strategy... instead of taking the time to block while you guys were mind throwing and such. Within the same 30 second span I was mind thrown past the entire group of 3-4 potential blockers to my death.

I guess Teamspeak/Skype chats would make it easier to coordinate but I prefer to keep the IC/OOC barrier since Mhaldor's party channels for raiding are always IC.

Also, having an OOC chat for such things would, firstly - be weird because you'll be mostly talking to a bunch of random strangers you play with in a text game and secondly, I don't want to engender any OOC/IC feelings of familiarity. It's like saying I am the Tyrannus and you are just a CR1 slave, but because you know and talk to me OOCly, you feel like it's going to be easier to cajole me into relaxing the rules with you.

I have done Skype calls for some stuff though. I remember having a random call with a bunch of other people in the game (not just Mhaldorians) and it was during the Iniquitous Gala or something where we were having to RP ballroom dancing, so we were giving each other tips on where to move and all that shiz. It was funny and hilarious altogether.

While I don't disagree, we both know there are plenty of "groups" OOC who play the game and participate in Skype chats or other discussion mediums that go a bit beyond the typical OOC clan.

Not sure this is a good idea, but to claim it would be weird is a bit disingenuous.

I guess you could call those "groups" cliques but those within these cliques do not regard each other as strangers because they normally know each other irl a lot more than just knowledge of what personal information was mentioned in passing before. When I mean weird, it's things like, suddenly inviting all the starting novices/people you hardly interact with who join in the raid party to a Skype call and stuff to co-ordinate when a party should suffice without the need to go into OOC utilities.

I guess Teamspeak/Skype chats would make it easier to coordinate but I prefer to keep the IC/OOC barrier since Mhaldor's party channels for raiding are always IC.

Also, having an OOC chat for such things would, firstly - be weird because you'll be mostly talking to a bunch of random strangers you play with in a text game and secondly, I don't want to engender any OOC/IC feelings of familiarity. It's like saying I am the Tyrannus and you are just a CR1 slave, but because you know and talk to me OOCly, you feel like it's going to be easier to cajole me into relaxing the rules with you.

I have done Skype calls for some stuff though. I remember having a random call with a bunch of other people in the game (not just Mhaldorians) and it was during the Iniquitous Gala or something where we were having to RP ballroom dancing, so we were giving each other tips on where to move and all that shiz. It was funny and hilarious altogether.

While I don't disagree, we both know there are plenty of "groups" OOC who play the game and participate in Skype chats or other discussion mediums that go a bit beyond the typical OOC clan.

Not sure this is a good idea, but to claim it would be weird is a bit disingenuous.

I guess you could call those "groups" cliques but those within these cliques do not regard each other as strangers because they normally know each other irl a lot more than just knowledge of what personal information was mentioned in passing before. When I mean weird, it's things like, suddenly inviting all the starting novices/people you hardly interact with who join in the raid party to a Skype call and stuff to co-ordinate when a party should suffice without the need to go into OOC utilities.

The general idea should be perceptible, though.

Was referring more to the relaxing of rules/favoritism aspect.

Just seems disingenuous to claim a public teamspeak for Mhaldor raids/activities would do that, but a skype group of ooc friends discussing IC happenings and such wouldn't.

There are IC combat parties? What? Aren't all combat parties a mixture of hilarious ooc shit about combat, ripping on each other, and telling dirty jokes? @Jhui You've lied to me this whole time?

lol.

You have no idea.

Just the other day someone in Mhaldor (who shall not be named you know who you are) decided to scold me on a raid defense party channel while being raided by you guys for using the words "vs." and "idk" when discussing a combat strategy... instead of taking the time to block while you guys were mind throwing and such. Within the same 30 second span I was mind thrown past the entire group of 3-4 potential blockers to my death.

YAY PRIORITIES

You can feel free to name me, I don't mind. I am willing to close an eye to one or two slips, but by no means should anyone think that citywide Mhaldorian raid/defense parties are OOC and this should be enforced. It's not necessary and it's good practice. The first has nothing to do with the second.

Sure, I can admit to a mistake re: the blocking. I actually -was- blocking before, but unblocked because I thought we were preparing to move, then Crixos lessered and apparently no one else was blocking. So yeah, my/our bad on that one, you were unlucky.

On topic: I think Skype chatting (as in text chatting) is fine, it's no different from OOC clans. And sometimes, for non-important stuff like foozles, it can be fun. Otherwise though I probably wouldn't, especially not for RP. I've found that it's actually more difficult to continue roleplaying convincingly with someone you're on Skype with because it's somewhat immersion breaking, as @Ruth mentioned.